If you concede that only the Lotus Sūtra expounds the dharma of attaining enlightenment by persons of the Two Vehicles and the concept of the Eternal Buddha, is not it the most wonderful of the Lotus Sūtra?
Shōjō Daijō Fumbetsu-shō, The Differences between Hinayāna and Mahāyāna Teachings
Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living beings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like turning black lacquer into white or purifying dirty water by putting a wish-fulfilling gem in it. The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women.
Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennichi
[D]uring the eight years when the Buddha expounded the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra on Mt. Sacred Eagle, all the bodhisattvas reached the stage of Wonderful Enlightenment, attaining the same Perfect Enlightenment of Śākyamuni Buddha and perceiving everything clearly as if they looked all around on the summit of Mt. Sumeru or the sun rose at dawn of a long night. Therefore, it cannot be that they do not intend to spread the Lotus Sūtra or bear the suffering of the practicer of the sūtra even without the word of the Buddha. They have thus made a vow, “We will not spare even our lives; we will treasure only the supreme way;” or “Without sparing our lives, we will disseminate this sūtra throughout the land.”
Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers
Although we have not cultivated virtue in the past, if we had not been born in the Latter Age of Degeneration, the age when the Wonderful Dharma is transmitted, it would have been difficult to attain the Way of liberation even though eternities passed by.
Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter
Devadatta, who committed the Three Rebellious Sins, as well as Rāhula, who observed the 250 precepts, similarly attained Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra. King Wonderful Adornment, who was attached to Brahmanism, as well as Śāriputra, a man who held the right view, were guaranteed future Buddhahood. This is what is meant by “If there are those who hear the Dharma, not even one will fail to attain Buddhahood.”
Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama
If a person wants to practice the spiritual contemplation according to the Lotus Sūtra, he should decide the content of practice after establishing the clear answer to the issues on the provisional and true teachings, and on the essential and theoretical sections. Since the Lotus Sūtra is the sole scripture worthy of being called ‘Wonderful,’ the way of the spiritual contemplation should be established according to this sūtra.
Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation
Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p444-445There was a certain Kim Kuayi of the [Korean] Kingdom of Silla who bore a single son. When he was a young boy the son left home [as a Buddhist monk]. He had always shown a particular delight in reading the Lotus Sūtra. However, in the second fascicle of his family’s copy of the scripture, there was one character that had been accidentally scorched beyond recognition.
At age eighteen the young monk died unexpectedly and was reborn in the household of another Kim Kuayi who lived elsewhere. Once again he left home [as a Buddhist monk] and developed a particular affection for reading the Lotus. But whenever he reached the second fascicle there was one particular word that he would always forget how to read, the instant he learned it. One night he dreamed that a person said to him: “Young master, in a former life you were born into the household of a certain Kim Kuayi in such and such a region. You also became a mendicant, and in that former life read and recited the Lotus Sūtra. However, one character was inadvertently scorched. As a result, in this life you are prone to forget it as soon as you learn it. That old copy of the sūtra still exists. Go there; find it; and see for yourself.”
Guided by his dream, the young master set off in search of the household in question. Upon finally locating it he asked tentatively if he might pass the night there. His father and mother from his previous life had a vague feeling that they knew him. [After he told them the story,] they brought out the old sūtra. Sure enough, they found that one character was scorched in the second fascicle. The young monk and his parents were joined deeply in their feelings of joy and sadness. The two households consequently became quite intimate, brought together almost as one. Their story reached the county and prefectural governments. From there, the local officials reported it to the throne. Thus it came to be transmitted and retold throughout the land. Even down to today it has not died out. All of this happened during the Zhenguan era [627-650].
At first only I, Nichiren, started chanting the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, but then two, three, then one hundred people, gradually began chanting it. This will continue in the future. Isn’t this what emerging from the earth means? When an innumerable number of people emerge from the earth and this Wonderful Dharma spreads extensively, there will be no mistake, just as a shooting arrow never misses the earth, Japan will be filled with people chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. You should therefore establish your fame as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and devote your life to it.
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality
The five characters of the Wonderful Dharma, the gist of the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, can deal with calamities and disasters if only one puts faith in it, but this is what the Buddha especially entrusted to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.
Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Chibyō-shō, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Toki
His never-lying tongue touching the highest heaven in the realm of form, Śākyamuni Buddha again declared to the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the Four Heavenly Kings, and dragon gods: “In the fifth 500-year period, when all the teachings of the Buddha are about to disappear, Bodhisattva Superior Practice will be entrusted with the five ideograms of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō as the cure for those slanderers and non-believers of Buddhism who suffer from white leprosy.” How could these words of the Buddha be false? Even if the earth turned upside down, high mountains crumbled, summer did not follow spring, the sun set in the east, and the moon fell on the earth, there would be no mistake about this.
Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time